As a proud member of the Love irish Food Initative Sqeez is harnessing the opportunity presented through promotion of its juices as part of this initative.

The vision of Love Irish Food is to help people make informed choices about buying Irish manufactured food and drinks. The overall aim is to safeguard the future of food and drink manufacturing in Ireland. We would hope that you could help spread this initiative by taking the time to log on to www.loveirishfood.ie; enter the competitions; print off coupons for discounted products & use the many recipes that feature a wealth of Irish produce.

Apple & Berry Compote

This is simple & quick but very impressive. I picked this recipe up when working in an a la carte restaurant years ago. It added something very special to even the simplest of desserts. Even just served with Vanilla ice-cream it truly does make simple “special”……

Ingredients

• 4 medium eating apples, peeled, cored and bruises removed
• 100ml Sqeez orange or apple juice
• a pinch of  cinnamon
• handful of berries such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries

Instructions

1. Put the apples, orange juice and cinnamon into a heavy based pan and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes or until just tender,
2. Stir in the berries  
3. Serve warm

Although I haven’t had this variant of scone in years, the legend of the Pineapple & Coconut scones live on (in my memory anyway). These scones are light, delicious, different & exotic………………..

Makes 1 dozen scones

4 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
Egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 2 tablespoons milk
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets and set aside.
3. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
4. Add the butter and cut into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. (Or use a food processor fitted with the metal blade to cut the butter into the flour mixture by pulsing 10 to 12 times. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl to continue making the dough.) Do not overwork the dough.  Add 1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut and 1 cup fresh diced pineapple to the flour-butter mixture just before adding the buttermilk. Use only one cup buttermilk.
5. Add 1 1/4 cups of the buttermilk and mix until just combined and the dough begins to stick together. Add the remaining buttermilk one tablespoon at a time if the dough is too dry.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll or pat into two 6-inch rounds, about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut each round in half, then cut each half into 3 triangles (pie-shaped wedges) and place on the baking sheets. Brush the tops with the egg wash.
7. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Sitting here desparately tryign to keep my mind off chocolate! Its virtually impossible. After spending the morning in supermarkets all over Dublin checking out the Sqeez products on the shelves, I ran into one display after another of chocolates, we’re talking, Milk Tray, Roses, Butlers- you name it, they were all there, displayed in an almost teasing way.

I very nearly allowed my inner voice to persuade that I DESERVED a big box of milk tray- my rational??? simple, I haven’t had them in ages, plus they are my favourite, plus they are on offer, plus no-one else ever buys me chocolates so I should treat myself.

Needless to say I managed to get out of each shop without a lovely purple box of milk tray. Hence why I’m now sitting here, practically miserable thinking about those displays & how I should have just given in…………………..

Very excited about the weekend. It takes so long to come around, but now its here I’ve got big plans. A nice trip to the West of Ireland.

Planning on watchign the match tomorrow. Come on Irelannd! & possibly catching a movie. Really want to see Invictus. Have heard some fantastic reports and apparently Morgan Freeman plays a blinder int he role as Nelson Mandela.

Here’s to a chilled out weekend, a win for Ireland & a great movie.

Enjoy:)